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Hudler propels Red Wings past Oilers

Nov 21, 2008 - 6:32 AM EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- Jiri Hudler netted a pair of goals as the Detroit Red Wings scored three times in the first period and held on for a 4-3 triumph over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Kopecky both scored on the power play and defensemen Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom notched two assists apiece as Detroit improved to 6-0-1 in its last seven games.

In his first start in a week, Chris Osgood made 31 saves en route to his 371st career win, moving him within one of tying Andy Moog for 13th place on the all-time list.

"Early on, the puck was coming often, but I thought he settled in and played," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "We knew tonight was going to be a tough game. When you get up 3-0... From the 10-minute mark for the rest of that first period, we had one shot. You absolutely dominated and you think, suddenly it's going to be easy. Well, it's not like that in this league."

Andrew Cogliano scored and blue-liners Lubomir Visnovsky and Sheldon Souray tallied 21 seconds apart in the third period for Edmonton, which fell to 1-3-1 in its last five games.

"We've had a couple games where we have come back on good teams - Pittsburgh and now Detroit," Souray said. "But it's too little, too late. We have to be better from start to finish to win these games."

Dwayne Roloson turned aside seven shots before exiting midway through the first period in favor of Mathieu Garon, who made 24 saves.

Hudler opened the scoring just 1:50 into the contest.

Defenseman Andreas Lilja blasted a shot from just inside the blue line that Roloson denied with his left pad, but the puck caromed right to Hudler, who immediately wristed it past the netminder to give the Red Wings the early advantage.

"The first 2 1/2 minutes of the game was a disaster, again. I can't put my finger on why," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said. "We started off really tentatively and we were down before we got our game going.

"The difference in the game ended up coming down to their power play and our penalty-killing. We couldn't kill the penalties. It was a good job coming back at the end. That helps in one respect, but in another, it highlights the disappointment of not starting the game better."

With his team on the power play, Datsyuk doubled Detroit's lead exactly eight minutes into the session, receiving a pass from Rafalski and blasting a shot past Roloson for his sixth tally of the campaign.

Just six seconds into the Red Wings' next man advantage, Kopecky made it a three-goal bulge by causing havoc in front of the net and tipping Lidstrom's shot past the veteran goalie.

"You always watch the other guys," Kopecky said. "You watch Homer (Tomas Holmstrom), Mule (Johan Franzen) and Clears (Daniel Cleary) in front of the net and sometimes it's fortunate, sometimes it hits you, sometimes it hits your stick, and that's where you score the goals."

"It's good for Koppy. I thought Koppy was a real good player for us last year before he got hurt," Babcock said. "We like his size, we like his tenacity, he can really shoot the puck. I thought it was a good opportunity for him tonight, and he took advantage of it. That's what you ask for from your players, is they are waiting their turn here. ... When you get your opportunity, you make good and maybe you get more ice time."

Kopecky's first goal of the season ended the evening for Roloson, who allowed three tallies on 10 shots in just over 10 minutes of play.

"We try to keep it simple, put a lot of pucks on the net and try and then make some plays," Hudler said of the Red Wings' power play. "The key is to shoot the puck, and then we make them a little tired and then make the plays."

After Cogliano got the Oilers on the scoreboard with 6:41 remaining in the second period, Hudler regained the three-goal cushion with 92 seconds left in the session.

With Detroit again on the power play, defenseman Derek Meech's blast from the point caromed off the end boards right to Hudler, who tapped the puck into the net for his sixth goal.

"Well, Huds is shifty. He's one of those guys we never play tons of minutes and we find him best around 12 minutes and yet, as you know, he controls the puck and makes plays," Babcock said. "Our power play is excellent, as you know, and theirs was excellent, too, on the 5-on-3. It was one of those situations that Huds and Koppy both found a way to give us a lift tonight."

Visnovsky brought the Oilers back into the contest, netting his fourth tally with 7:06 remaining and assisting on Souray's power-play goal less than 30 seconds later.

The Oilers, however, could not net the equalizer despite outshooting the Red Wings, 12-6, in the third period.